Art created by local elementary school students will be featured through March 1 at Dead Horse Point State Park’s Bighorn Gallery. The exhibit includes paintings and sculptures created by kindergarten through sixth-grade students from Helen M. Knight Elementary School.

On Saturday, Jan. 12, an open reception for the student artists will be held at the gallery from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

“The entire Moab community is invited to attend and celebrate our creative children,” HMK Art Coach Bruce Hucko said in a news release.

During the reception, select students from the third and fifth grades will offer free mini-lessons in drawing the landscape as seen from Dead Horse Point.

“Our students know that everyone can draw,” Hucko said, “and they are quite excited to help you, the community member, with your own drawing. Having students teach helps build their personal confidence and drawing skills.”

The exhibit highlights recent student art work inspired by the Moab area landscape, Hucko said. The art created by HMK third-graders shows the results of their annual “Lines of Landscape” project, where students used vertical, horizontal and oblique lines to create local landforms in paint or pastel. The second-grade works were inspired by the students’ annual trip to Balanced Rock with the National Park Service’s Outdoor Education Program, according to Hucko, and the fifth-grade art features intensely colored oil pastel paintings in the spirit of American artist Milton Avery.

“There are fun wire sculptures from grades three through six, Picasso-like portraits from grades four through six made with recycled materials, and depth-defying pumpkin paintings from first grade,” Hucko said in the news release. “Watercolor paintings from fourth grade reflect an understanding of the art and science of water. The large, abstract, Kandinsky-inspired tempera paintings will delight you, as will all of the fabulous art.”

The visual art program at HMK is taught by Shannon Scherer and Hucko. Scherer teaches the fourth- through sixth-grade exploratory art program. Hucko works with all grades with an emphasis on grades K-3.

A wide variety of student art created during these programs is also on display in the halls of HMK, Hucko said.

The visual art program is supported through funding from the Beverley Taylor Sorenson Arts Learning Program, which is funded by the Utah Legislature and administered by the Utah State Office of Education. The program relies on annual funding appropriations, and information about the program as well as an ongoing statewide lobbying effort to continue arts funding for Utah kids is available online at www.artworksforkids.org.

Dead Horse Point State Park is located 30 miles north and west of Moab off U.S. 191 and state Route 313. The park admission fee is waived for community members attending the art reception.

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